Storyline
When lead singer Jimmy Taranto dumps his girlfriend
Candy then his rock band Gutter Filth, Candy decides to
take his place in the band. Together with anal bass
player GB, cross-dressing drummer Dee and Jennifer their
loyal manager, they begin a journey to stardom. While
their success eclipses Jimmy''s, Candy still can''t find
the true love she is looking for. But sometimes the
things you want are right in front of you. Written by
Anna Brownfield

Art
House Sex Film: Anna Brownfield’s The Band

The indie sex and rock feature film The Band (2009) by
Australian Anna Brownfield (1971) stands out from all
other new porn by women. In 2009, The Band was the
opening film at the Berlin Porn Festival and was also
shown at the Cannes Film Festival. Brownfield’s film
gives association to Michael Winterbottom’s 9 songs
(2004) and John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus (2006),
films along with which Brownfield classifies her own:
art house films with hardcore sex.

The Band is a cinematically sound film, driven by raw
catchy punk-rock music and hardcore sex. The music was
composed by the Melbourne-based band Moscow Schoolboy,
with the PJ Harvey-esque vocalist Jess Cornelius. And
the acting is strong, with performers who fit their
parts: believable punk-rock band members with their ups
and downs.

Photography and cinematography are striking on this
film, for which Brownfield gives director of photography
Sanne Kurz much of the credit. The pictures are
exceptional in the depth, layers, and textures that they
convey, communicating excitement, heat, and passion, as
well as affection and tenderness; all of which is
further emphasized by the nuanced soundtrack that
captures the sensations of licking and touching. Shot on
a Panasonic AG-HVX200 camera with its variable shooting
speed, the sex numbers are shot in true slow motion,
which gives them a fluid quality.

In content the film pushes boundaries, portraying a
range of sexual relations and experiences that include
fetishes and gender bending encounters, without being
pedagogically preachy or overtly politically activist.
The film follows the rock group Gutter Filth on tour
through clubs and rundown bars with their own groupie in
tow. The vocalist and front figure for the band, the
sexy but smug Jimmy Taranto, decides early on to give
his solo career a shot and drops both the group and his
girlfriend, Candy, a beautiful long-limbed and
long-haired young woman who’s too good for him anyway.
The rest of the band, with bassist G.B., who looks like
a younger version of Mick Jagger, and drummer Dee, a
lean black-haired man with a fondness for women’s attire
and black eye makeup, decide with their manager, the
caring and inconspicuously butch Jennifer with
dreadlocks and piercings, to choose Candy as their new
front figure. The record company wants to test the
audience response to the new vocalist and sends the band
on tour in the backblocks. The tour is successful and
the band’s new single with Candy reaches number one on
the top hit list, while Jimmy’s popularity falls to the
bottom.